Insects and Spiders
The sound of copulating flies
In order to test the theory that noisy copulating animals are at greater risk of being found and eaten by predators, German researchers mounted "dead, noiseless fly pairs" on the ceiling of a shed. The bats that lived in the shed ignored them. But when the researchers played the sound of copulating flies through loudspeakers, the bats attacked the loudspeakers. So, theory proven!Max-Planck-Gesellschaft has a video of the bats attacking the speakers, but unfortunately the video has no sound. And below is a youtube video of some copulating flies -- but again, you can't hear the flies, just some people in the background. So I still don't know what copulating flies sound like.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 27, 2012 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Insects and Spiders, Science, Experiments, Sexuality
A gecko eaten by ants
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 01, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Insects and Spiders
The Human Beehive
It's never occurred to me to wonder if I could cover my naked body with 30,000 bees. But it occurred to this Polish beekeeper. He survived the "experiment" with only two stings. The best part of the video is when he shakes them all off at the end.
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 22, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Insects and Spiders
Johnson Smith Catalog Item #22
Who would ever have figured that this practical joke would come back into fashion after 80 years? Be a big hit in your rich Manhattan co-op, as you sprinkle these liberally around!
From the 1930s catalog.
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 17, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Hygiene, Insects and Spiders, Johnson Smith Catalog, 1930s, Pranks
World Record For Holding Cockroaches In Your Mouth
Watch Travis Fessler set the record by stuffing 11 cockroaches in his mouth. According to an article on Cincinnati CityBeat, he says doing this hurts because the roaches have sharp barbs on their legs, and they try to crawl down his throat. So I'm crossing this off my bucket list.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 03, 2012 -
Comments (8)
Category: Insects and Spiders, World Records
Puerto Rican St. Pat’s Day
Do they still celebrate St. Patrick's Day with special fervor in Puerto Rico, thanking the saint for freedom from worms and ants? A charming thing, if they do.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 15, 2012 -
Comments (6)
Category: Holidays, Insects and Spiders, Religion, Rituals and Superstitions, 1920s, Caribbean
Kala and the Mystery
kala and the mystery ... _Part I_ (English Version) from meltingman on Vimeo.
This cartoon is a few years old now, and no sequel is apparent. Too bad! I wanted to see how an alcoholic beetle and a voracious spider did with their love match.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 09, 2012 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Death, Insects and Spiders, South America, Alcohol
Thingmaker
I had this toy as a kid. Great fun. The plastic always looked edible and it was hard to resist chewing on the bugs.
What are the chances you could sell such a molten-plastic, electric-powered, producer-of-things-dangerous-to-swallow toy today?
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 24, 2011 -
Comments (6)
Category: Insects and Spiders, Toys, 1960s
Ants Nest Filled with Cement and Excavated
According to this cool video, ants built the equivalent of the Great Wall of China by moving tons of dirt. After filling the ant hill with cement it is excavated. Though the screen shot looks like a giant spider, the colored blobs are people standing in the structure.Giant Ant Colony is a World Wonder - Watch more Funny Videos
Now if I could just find out what this clip was from and where the colony is -- I would love to visit it.
Posted By: gdanea - Thu Nov 11, 2010 -
Comments (10)
Category: Insects and Spiders
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |